West Bengal Governor sends ’Aparajita’ anti-rape bill to President Murmu for consideration

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose referred the newly passed anti-rape bull to President Droupadi Murmu for consideration on Friday. The development came a day after the top official criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led administration for "failing to send" the necessary technical report along with the Bill.

“Governor has pointed out the omissions and commissions in the hurriedly passed Bill…He pointed out the glaring defects and lapses in the Bill and advised govt to do their homework instead of going in for knee jerk responses,” read an excerpt from the update shared by the Raj Bhavan on X.

The Bill now joins similar documents created by Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh that are currently pending with President Murmu.

The Governor also censured Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for announcing a dharna outside the Raj Bhavan if the Bill was delayed — dubbing it an ‘inept gimmick’ to ‘hoodwink the people of Bengal’.

The Governor has reportedly also pointed out that the Bengal Bill appears to be a copy paste of the similar bills passed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Arunachal Pradesh, while claiming that the Chief Minister also knows that some of these bills are awaiting the assent of the President of India.

The Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024 was passed unianimously by the state government on September 3. The Bill — introduced amid widespread outrage over the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor — seeks stronger punishment for such crime.

It advocates capital punishment for rape convicts if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state, and life sentence without parole for other perpetrators. Other significant features of the proposed legislation include the completion of probes into rape cases within 21 days of the initial report, a reduction from the previous two-month deadline, and a special task force where women officers will lead investigations.

(With inputs from agencies)